


The Calm Before The Storm

by xoloveleonie_ss



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Anxious bellamy, Canon Compliant, Echo Appreciation Week, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Hair Braiding, post s5, pre S6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 14:15:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16620587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xoloveleonie_ss/pseuds/xoloveleonie_ss
Summary: I wrote this for Echo Appreciation Week Day 3 - favorite relationshipBellamy and Echo manage to get in a last few quiet moments right before the first group of people is about to head down to the surface of the new planet that is now going to be their home.akaA cute fluffy one-shot that includes hair braiding and a certain someone who is worried about leading their people down the right path.





	The Calm Before The Storm

**Author's Note:**

> So as with my other fics, I didn't proofread it again after I finished it, sorry about that :) but please enjoy this light Becho fluff.
> 
> Dedicated to DistractedPadawan because she had the topic of this fic in her fanfic wishlist.

„Echo, are you ready? The first exploration group is going down in 15 minutes and I know you don't want to miss that chance.“

Bellamy waltzed unannounced into the small room the two had been sharing for the last few days since they had woken everyone up from cryo and found Echo sitting on one of the 2 beds they had previously pushed together to form one big one. Echo was already dressed and ready to go in the durable clothes she always wore but had currently both hands raised behind her head where she had started braiding her towel-dry hair back into what seemed to be the start of a simple french braid.

„Don't worry, I'm almost done.“ Echo said, not even turning to the side to look at him.

Even from her side profile, Bellamy could see the concentration written all over her face. Her brows were slightly furrowed into a small frown and she was absentmindedly knawing on her bottom lip. It was a small habit Bellamy had picked up on during their time on the ring. He thought it was incredibly endearing, but every time he pointed it out to her Echo would get annoyed at herself, saying it was one of the few habits she was never able to get rid of ever since starting her training in Azgeda. He had stopped pointing it out after a while so she wouldn't try to hide it.  
Bellamy's eyes wandered over to Echos hands, watching her braid when a big strand of hair fell out of her grip, ruining her half-finished work.

„Shit! Now I need to start again!“ Echo groaned, a tiny bit annoyed, but couldn't help a little chuckle escaping her mouth. „I swear I used to be able to do this in my sleep. It's one of the easiest braids in the book but I guess your love for braiding hair messed up my skills while we were on the ring.“

Holding a hair tie out to him, Echo now looked at Bellamy a little defeated, flashing him a small smile and a hint of the puppy eyes that only he was ever allowed to see.

„Can you do it? You will be way faster than me right now.“

Bellamy let out an amused huff of air and took the hair tie from Echos hand. He would have said yes even without her little attempt at convincing him. He had always liked braiding Octavia's hair when she was little and it hadn't changed over the years. Bellamy wasn't sure why he liked it so much, maybe it was just another way for him to show affection, he just knew he enjoyed it.

„You know if I wasn't still so angry with her I would tell you that you should probably someday thank Octavia for my excellent braiding skills. She loved it and made me do it all the time.“ He teased while walking over to her and making himself comfortable behind her so that Echo was now sitting between his legs.

Bellamy gave her arms a little affectionate rub and leaned forward to give her shoulder a quick kiss before he started combing his hands through her damp hair, erasing all the remnants of the failed braid. When he began his usual routine of softly massaging her scalp, Echo closed her eyes and relaxed into him, letting her head fall a little to the front before humming quietly with pleasure.

„Maybe I really should thank her“ she smiled, „And I know exactly why she loved it so much. The head massages that almost always come with your service are amazing.“

„Oh no, those only come with the girlfriend package. O mostly just got little stories to make her sit still.“ Bellamy replied amused.

After a few more moments of massaging Echo's head, he lightly squeezed her shoulders to make her sit up again so he could start the simple french braid she had worked on earlier.  
They sat in comfortable silence for the next few minutes. Bellamy concentrating on the braid and Echo enjoying the feeling of her hair being softly tugged on and Bellamy's fingers scraping at her scalp every now and then as he worked his way down the back of her head.

They've had a lot of quiet moments like this with just the two of them all the time over the course of their relationship back on the ring. Once they got back down to the ground though, during the ensuing war, they had been denied those simple moments and after being separated for the first time it made Echo appreciate every moment she had with him even more now.  
Bellamy braiding her hair reminded her of their peaceful time on the ring and of her early childhood when her mother used to fix her hair in the morning. In a way it made her feel safe and calm.

Echo felt Bellamy putting the hair tie around the ends of her hair and expected him to squeeze her shoulders again, telling her he is done and she can stand up now but even after a few seconds had passed Bellamy still remained silent. Confused, Echo turned around to see what was going on and found him seemingly staring into nothingness, lost in his thoughts. She padded one of his legs to get his attention but aside from a small frown forming on his face she didn't get a response.

„Penny for your thoughts?“ 

It was a phrase Monty had always used. In the beginning, Echo thought the phase was weird and didn't make sense but after a while, she had gotten used to it and had eventually even picked it up herself.

„What if I fail them?“ Bellamy finally responded, still staring at nothing.

„What do you mean? Who?“ 

Echo had an inkling of what Bellamy was thinking about right now, but she wanted him to tell her himself so she just rested a hand on his cheek, rubbing soothing circles over it and waiting for him to respond.

„Monty and Harper.“ Bellamy said, finally snapping out of his thoughts and looking her in the eyes. „They want us to be peaceful. To be the good guys. What if I can't do it? What if I can't break this cycle we've been trapped in for so long now? I just don't want to disappoint them.“

Bellamy looked worried now, searching for answers to his questions in his girlfriend's eyes.

„Hey,“ Echo coos at him, now holding his face in both her hands in an effort to calm him down, already being used to this. He reminded her of the times on the ring when he had worried about his sister's safety. „You won't disappoint them. They know you Bellamy and they know you are going to try your best. That is all they can ask of us and you don't have to shoulder this all by yourself. You are one of our leaders but you are not alone in this and not solely responsible for what's going to happen once we are down there. We are all responsible and there's no use for you to freak out about this right now.“

Echo gave him an encouraging smile and let her hands fall down to his shoulders, already seeing him calm down. This was just one of his usual little leader freakouts. It was normally enough for her to just tell him that it's going to be fine and that he is doing a good job to get him to calm down again.

„I know, I know, it's just....this all feels way too familiar. I'm already having war flashbacks to when the 100 first came down to earth. I'm just scared nothing is going to change down there.“

This whole conversation now also felt way too familiar to Echo, getting reminded of another similar conversation of theirs. She got an idea on how to cheer Bellamy up and getting him out of his thoughts. The opportunity was just too good and Echo already had to suppress an amused smile, before taking his face into her hands again and steeling her face into a serious gaze.

„Trust me. Everything is going to change on the ground“ Echo said, imitating Bellamy's voice the best she could.

Bellamy burst out into a little laugh, having not expected her goofy side to come out right now and snaked his arms around her torso in a loose hug.

„Wow. Using my own words against me. Really?“ he said, feigning exasperation.

„Yes“ Echo responded nonchalantly, happy that her little idea had worked. She smiled while leaning in for a kiss that turned out to be a little toothy with both of them still half smiling.

The kiss was shortlived as Echo quickly pulled away and took his hands before getting up and pulling him up with her.

„Now come on, I really don't want to miss that first dropship.“

Not letting go of his hand she pulled him towards the door where she quickly grabbed her backpack that had her sword attached to it with her free hand before heading out of the room, a little scared but mostly excited about this new chapter that was about to begin in all of their lives.


End file.
